Suction cleaner



Sept. 29, 1936. C, H` SPARKUN 2,055,734

SUCTION CLEANER Filed Dec. 2l, 1935 4 Sheets-Sheet l sep. 29, 1936. C, H, SPARKUN 2,0555734 SUCTION VCLEANER Filed Dec. 21, 1935 4 sheets-sheet 2 SUCTION CLEANER 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Dec. 21, 1935 C. H. SPARKLIN Sept. 29, 1936.

Sept. 29, 1936. c. H. SPARKLIN 2,055,734

sUCTIoN CLEANER I Filed Dec. 2l, 1935 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented Sept. 29, 1936Y rossana sUcrIoN CLEANER Charles H. Sparklin, Chicago,I lll., assigner to Birtman Electric Company, Chicago, lll., c corporation of Illinois Application December 2l, i935, @crisi No. 55,669

17 Claims.

with e. vertically movable nozzle so that when opere'ting on e carpet that is relatively thick and lli soit Where the wheels sink in to a relatively great eztent, tlie nozzle con be vertically adjusted uptverdly so that in the cleaning of such carpet, the mouth of the nozzle will not be too close to the iebric or lueur too herd thereon. Contreriwise, g@ when operating upon a thin hard carpet or on a. bore floor or linoleum, or the like, where the vvlieels do not sink in to any perceptible extent,

it loes Men found advisable to adjust the nozzle v cleaner is used on carpets of varying degrees of thickness and softness and, consequently, in illusverticelly downwardly so that it will be in proper position with respect to the surface being cleaned. Likewise, in operating upon carpets of this thickness, it has been found thatrvertical adjustment ci the nozzle is necessaryor desirable.

In general, it may be stated that I provide a 3@ carriage and a nozzle movable up and down with respect to the carriage. I also provide means acting substantially uniformly to substantially balance the forces of gravity acting on the nozzle throughout its range of movement which may be in a variety of forms, including any of those shown, for example, in'Wiehle patent, No. 1,995,- 084,.of March 19, 1985. The nozzles shown in that patent are vertically movable or adjustable with respect to the surface being cleaned; but as 4o there shown, the nozzle is adapted to be drawn down against the'surfsce undergoing cleaning under the inuence ofsuction. 'I'he principal feature of the present invention is to provide additional supporting means for the nozzle or 45 means limiting the downward movement of the .nozzle operative especially when the cleaner is in operation'. If a nozzle is counterbalanced but free to be drawn down against the surface being cleaned 'under the full innuence of the suction,

l:so there may be undesirable frlction'between the nozzle and the materlalbeing cleaned, especially when operating upon soft thick uify carpets.

That is, the suction may cause the nozzle to dig into the material to such a'n extent as to cause 55 objectionable friction or opposition to movement PATENT OFFICE of the cleaner. To overcome this, l provide, es stated above, edditionsl supporting means er menne limiting the downward movement of the nozzle when. the cleaner is operating, seid means including e member seperate from the nozzle and preferably in the iormof oneor more rollers adepted to oet or ride substantially on the surfzce of the material being cleaned. The supporting wheels for the carriage may be of the ordinary type or they' may preferably be somewhat narrower than customary so that they will sink into the materiel being cleaned to e. considerable extent below its surface, depending upon the nature of the materiel itself. With this ccnstruction, the nozzle will automatically be adjusted to the correct height, depending upon the kind, nature, softness end thickness of the material being cleaned end yet will not be drawn down against or into the materiel by the suction to an objectionable extent.

In describing the invention, I may use the word carpet to indicate any surface being cleaned. The invention is particularly valuable when a trating the invention, this word may be used.

The roller or rollers used for supporting or limiting downward movement of the nozzle may be described in general as nozzle-supporting means. It is to be understood, however, that the nozzle is really carried or supported by the carrlage. That is, the nozzle and the motor casing with the motor inside are formed as a unit as is customary in connection withportable suction cleaners and the entire unit is carried by the carriage.

The mounting on the carriage, however, is such that the nozzle itself is vertically adjustable with respect ,to the carriage and, consequently, with respect to the surface being cleaned` The `nozzle-supporting means, therefore, in the form of the roller described above acts to limit downward movement of the nozzle, particularly under suctionL, This support for the nozzle is obtained by the roller floating or rolling substantially on the surface of the carpet. That is, it will sink into the carpet only to a very small extent, if at all; and not nearly as much into soft carpet as the` wheels that support the carriage. Being in the form of a roller, it will slide easily over the surface of the carpet and thus lessen the friction. The roller preferably has considerable width, thus giving at least a line contact of considerable length and in all probability a surface contact of considerable area, thus preventing the roller from sinking into the surface of even soft thick carpets to any great extent. By "surface is meant the very top of the carpet. It is contemplated that the roller will rest substantially on the upper ends of the threads forming the pile of a thick carpet without bending them over or crushing them down to any considerable extent.

It is realized, of course, that even with a wide roller, the same will sink into a soft carpet to some extent and, therefore, I have also provided a connection between the supporting roller and the nozzle whereby the movement of the latter is amplified with respectto that of the former. 'I'hat is, even if the roller sinks into a thick carpet to some extent, the nozzle will be held a little bit higher than the roller so that it will always have the proper adjustment.

It has been found that when a nozzle is balanced, as described above, forward or backward acceleration of the cleaner negative or positive may cause some undesirable rocking of the nozzle. To prevent this I have, in one form of the invention, shown the nozzle as counterbalanced by pivoting the entire nozzle motor unit on the carriage and have placed this pivot at the center of inertia in a vertical plane.

I have also preferred to counterbalance the nozzle so that it will normally rock forwardly to a slight extent. This will insure proper cleaning action at all times.

Another feature of the invention is the provision of a separate support for the bag with a flexible connection between the bag and the nozzle so that the varying weight of the bag as it is lled with dirt will not unduly affect the nozzleadjusting means.

Another feature of the invention is the provision of compensated springs so that their counterbalancing or counteracting effect on the nozzle will be substantially uniform for all positions of the nozzle.

Other features and advantages of my. invention will appear more fully as I proceed with my specification.

In those forms of device embodying the features of my invention shown in the accompanying drawings- Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly in section; Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the nozzle in a different position; Fig. 3 is a bottom view of the same Fig. 4 is a view in perspective of one of the rollers used for supporting the nozzle; Fig. 5 is a view in side elevation of a modiiied form; Fig. 6 is a view taken as indicated by the line 6--6 of Fig. 8; Fig. 7 is a view taken as indicated by the line '1 -'I of Fig. 8; Fig. 8 is a bottom plan view of the cleaner of Fig. 5; and Fig. 9 is a view taken as indicated by the line 9 9 of Fig. 8.

The device of Figs. 2, 3, and 4 In this device, I0 indicates a, horizontal motor' casing, II the usual fan casing, I2 the nozzle, and I3 a motor driven brush in the nozzle. 'I'he motor casing, fan casing and nozzle are made in a unit.

I4 indicates a carriage or chassis supported on the two front wheels I5, I 5 and the two rear Wheels I6, I6. The carriage or chassis I 4 as here shown is preferably formed principally of a metal bar or strap bent substantially into T-shape with the wheels I5, I5 carried at the forward ends and the wheels I 6, I5 carried at the rea'r end. About midway of the carriage the same is provided with upstanding bars Ida to the upper ends of which are pivotally attached the lower ends of the bail 50 carrying the handle 5I.

The nozzle I2 is vertically adjustable with respect to the surface being cleaned. In the device of Figs. 1 to 4, this is accomplished by pivotally supporting the unit including the motor casing, fan casing and nozzle at the rear end of the carriage. the nozzle at the forward end of the cleaner to be moved upwardly or downwardly. As here shown, the `support is accomplished by attaching the arms I1, i1 to the rear end of the motor casing I0 and pivoting their lower ends to the rear end of the carriage I4 on the pivots I8.

In order to substantially balance or counterbalance the forces of gravity acting on the nozzle throughout its range of movement, I provide the springs 20, 20, having their rear ends attached to the ends of the pivot I8 and their forward ends attached to upstanding levers 2I on the rock shaft 22. 23 indicates a lever connected to the rock shaft with its forward end 23 bearing against a member 24 under the lower part of the llange 25 of the motor casing I 0. The springs 20 pulling on the levers 2I rock the shaft 22 to lift the end of the lever 23 to support the member 2Q and thus give support to the nozzle I 2. The springs 20 are so selected so they will substantially balance the weight of the nozzle. That is, the nozzle will substantially float or be free to be moved upwardly or downwardly, although I preferably make the springs weak ercugh so that the nozzle normally will rock forwardly or downwardly to the limit of its movement. It is to be noted particularly that the levers 2I are inclined somewhat forwardly of the vertical so thatas the nozzle moves downwardly and the spring tension is increased, the torque leverage of the levers 2l on the shaft 22 will be reduced owing tothe increased parallelism between the levers 2l and the springs 20. The parts are so proportioned that this decreased leverage will substantially oiset the increased pull of the springs so that they will exert a substantially straight line pull on the nozzle. That is, the springs will substantially uniformly balance the forces of gravity acting on the nozzle substantially throughout its entire range of movement.

The nozzle support includes the two rollers 26, 2t. These rollers are wide enough so that they will ride more or less on the surface of thick carpet and, consequently, elevate the nozzle. For example, as shown in Fig. 2, the surface being cleaned is indicated as a rather thick carpet. The topmost surface of this carpet is indicated by 2l. As here shown, the rollers 26 have sunk down into the carpet to some extent, that is, to the level of the line indicated by 271i, but they have not sunk down as low as the wheels I5 which are at the level of the line 2lb which may be very near the bottom surface of the vthick carpet. The cleaner is shown in Fig. 1 as operating upon a hard oor 23 and here the rollers 26 naturally rest at the same level as the wheels I5 and it will be seen that the nozzle consequently is also lowered.

'I'he support of the nozzle on the rollers 26 is effected in the following manner. Links 2Q are provided with their rear ends pivoted at 3D to the carriage Iii. The front ends of the links 29 extend forwardly somewhat of the wheels 26 and support the nozzle I2 by the pivots 3l. It will be seen that by this construction, the upward and downward movement ofthe rollers 2li with respect to the wheels l5 will be amplified when transmitted to the nozzle. This action is clearly This pivotal connection permits' whereby vertical movement of the nozzle is amplified with respect to vertical movement or the sup@ porting member relative to the carriage.

5. A suction cleaner as claimed in claim 1, in which the nozzle is provided with a floating rear lip, there being a flexible connection between said lip and the nozzle proper.

6. A suction cleaner as claimed in claim 3, in which the nozzle is provided with a floating rear lip, there being a flexible connection between said lip and the nozzle proper.

7. A cleaner as claimed in claim l, including a bag supported directly by the carriage with a ilexible connection between said bag and the nozzle.

8. A cleaner as claimed in claim 3, including a bag supported directly by the carriage with a flexible connection between said bag ,and the nozzle.

9. A cleaner as claimedin claim 3, in which the means for counterbalancing the nozzle includes a 'spring with a compensating connection between the spring and the nozzle whereby the counterbalancing effect of the spring on the nozzle will bel substantially uniform throughout the entire range of movement of the nozzle.

10. A suction cleaner, including: a carriage; and a unit motor casing, fan casing, and nozzle, pivotally mounted on the carriage. whereby the nozzle is vertically movable with respect to the carriage and substantially.counterbalanced, the pivotal axis of said pivotalY mounting lying substantially in the horizontal plane ofthe center of percussion of said-unit.

11. A suction cleaner, including: a carriage; a nozzle -mounted on Vthe carriage and vertically movable with respect to the carriage; means substantlally counterbalancing the weight of the nozzle; and means for supporting the nozzle, in-

cluding a member adapted to ride substantially on the surface of the material being cleaned regardless of its character, and a link with its forward end connected to the nozzle, its rear end connected to thecarriage and said riding mem- 5 ber attached to said link between its ends.

12. A suction cleaner, including: a carriage; a nozzle mounted on the carriage and vertically movable with respect to the carriage; means substantially counterbalancing the weight of the l0 nozzle; and means for supporting the nozzle, said means including a member adapted to ride substantially on the surface of the material being cleaned regardless of its character.

13. A suction cleaner as claimed in claim 3 in 15 anced by substantially balancing the unit motor casing, fan casing, and nozzle on its pivotal mounting.

15. A suction cleaner, including: a carriage; a.

vunit fan casing and nozzle pivotally mounted on the carriage whereby the nozzle is vertically movable with respect to the carriage; means substantially counterbalancing the weight of the nozzle; and means for supporting the nozzle, said meansl including a member adapted to ride substantially on the surface ofthe material being cleaned regardless of its character.

`16. -A suction cleaner as claimed in claim 15 in which the means for counterbalancing the nozzle includes a motor casing.

17. A suction cleaner as claimed in claim 15 n 35 which means for counterbalancing the nozzle includes a spring.

CHARLES H. SPARKLIN. 

